1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to integrated circuit (IC) fabrication and, more particularly, to a double-diffused metal oxide semiconductor transistor (DMOST) with a multi-thickness channel fabricated on SOI for medium power device applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a partially cross-sectional view of a vertical output DMOST device with substrate contact to the drain output (prior art). One limitation of a conventional planar MOS device is that the channel length is proportional to the breakdown voltage, but inversely proportional to current. That is, high current planar devices require a very short channel length and, therefore, have a very low breakdown voltage. To address this short channel limitation, DMOST devices were developed. A DMOST device is formed by a double-diffusion. For example, an n-channel DMOST is conventionally formed by a deep p+ implant, followed by a shallow n+ implant. Unlike planar MOS devices, which control channel length using a photolithographic process, the channel length of a DMOST is controlled by the difference between the diffusions of the p+ implant and the n+ implant species to form a p-body and n+ source regions.
State-of-the-art high voltage high power transistors are conventionally fabricated either on bulk silicon or on compound semiconductors. Compound semiconductor substrate costs are very high. In addition, the compound semiconductor processes are not compatible with silicon integrated circuit processes. As a result, the cost of compound semiconductor high voltage high power devices is very high and, therefore, not suitable for consumer applications. If fabricated on bulk silicon, the high voltage transistor must be a DMOST design. A DMOST utilizes double diffusion to form a very short channel length transistor with a very long depletion region to sustain high voltages.
A bulk silicon DMOST conventionally requires a large device area and, in addition, the output is made via the substrate contact, “underneath” the transistor active regions. Although front (“top”) output lateral DMOSTs (LDMOSTs) have also been fabricated, the area required for these devices is even larger than for back output devices. The depletion area of the DMOST, whether it is back output or front output device, is also very large. The depletion region is the main source of the leakage current, which increases exponentially with temperature. Thus, the bulk silicon DMOST is not suitable for high temperature high voltage applications.
The use of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates offers many potential advantages for the fabrication of high temperature power devices. Some of the potential advantages are: complete device isolation, small device size, low leakage current at high temperatures, and simple fabrication processes. The complete isolation of devices eliminates crosstalk among the devices in the same chip. Because of the isolation, power devices, linear circuits, and digital circuits can be integrated together without the use of large isolation areas. Potentially, a low leakage current can be achieved by using a very thin top active silicon film. The volume of the junction depletion layer would be small enough to not generate large leakage current even at high temperatures.
Power transistors have been fabricated on SOI substrates from bipolar transistor, conventional DMOS transistor designs, or as a combination of conventional DMOS and bipolar transistors. Since conventional DMOS and bipolar transistor designs both require thick silicon films, these designs fail to make use of all the above-mentioned potential advantages available with the use of SOI substrate. For example, Philip's A-BCD technology requires a 1.5 μm layer of active silicon films. A design proposed by Nenadovic requires a 5 μm of active top silicon film, and a design proposed by Wasekura requires a 12 μm layer of top active silicon film. Since the leakage current is proportional to the volume of the junction depletion region, these thick top active silicon films generate high leakage currents, which are especially problematic at high temperatures. Further, since conventional commercially available SOI wafers are fabricated with less than a 1.5 μm top active silicon film thickness, the above-mentioned thick-film designs require a high cost, custom type of SOI wafer.
It would be advantageous if a high power DMOST device could be fabricated on a SOI wafer using a thin active film region to minimize leakage current.